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Yeah, not sure what's WTF worthy about a popular show being used for Halloween. OP should be glad it wasn't more accurate. If you're scared about what your kids might see go to the mall or a community event for the evening, because I'd think this was a pretty tame set up as far as Halloween goes.

This was in Vacaville, CA. Not my neighborhood but it's famous for a bunch of houses that have themes. Mostly ghost pirate ships, a cemetery, a giant spider cave and a few others with loads of decorations, fog and moving things and music. My kids conked out after 10 houses and then we just walked around looking.

Halloween has gone soft! That is why I dressed up in a dark hard black mask and sat in my garage with door open in the dark. When kids came I ran out with a knife and scared the shit out of them before I gave them candy. One parent told me not to scare the little ones. I said fuck that I am going hard this year!

I'm not sure he is suggesting that at all. That's based on your interpretation of the post.

Your argument doesn't hold water as this setup is clearly made for the kids going trick-or-treating. Not saying I think they're doing anything wrong (though this might be a little too scary for some kids), but your argument would only be valid if they didn't hand out candy on Halloween.

Halloween is NOT just for kids. Jeez. Kids thinking they can steal all the damn holidays.

History lesson on Halloween:

The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead overlapped and the deceased would come back to life and cause havoc such as sickness or damaged crops.

Masks and costumes were worn in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or appease them.

Where in there does it say "just for kids"? I get that trick or treating is traditionally just for kids, but if people want to embrace the scary evil dead part of Halloween, then tell your damn kids to man up.

So because our child obsessed culture has decided everything is now for kids except maybe drinking or sex, and even then you still see people dressing up their kids as members of Jersey Shore... That means adults can't enjoy it how they choose? It was traditionally an adult holiday. Before the US had its "childhood movement" and even until somewhat recently trick or treat was basically "let your kid run around in the street" night. If adults want to partake in a holiday they have just as much right to do so as you have the right to pop out more kids, this is the world, kids have to live in it, the sooner they realize everything isn't made specially for them or idolizing childhood over everything else, the better.

Trick or treat became popular in the 50's. before then it wasn't really even a national type thing.

Halloween and Trick or Treat are two different things.

Except they occur on the same day, at the same time?

I had a great, very adult Halloween this year, I also hand made two kids costumes and spent 4 hours giving out candy, I don't know what "lifestyle" you're talking about. I simply don't expect the rest of the world to cater to my kids over their own interests on their own property.

Trick or Treat is a component of Halloween. Trick or Treating is something kids do on Halloween. Other activities happen on Halloween as well. Adults have parties. Scary movies are shown. Is this really that difficult a concept for you?

I simply don't expect the rest of the world to cater to my kids over their own interests on their own property.

So I should expect the world to cater to my children? I'd rather teach my children to be respectful of everyone's interests than to be raised thinking the world revolves around them. I don't understand how this is "butthurt" that I'd like to raise nonselfish children over kids raised in a bubble who think everything is about them.

It is butthurt because no one is suggesting anything about catering the world to your children. There is simply a few people here suggesting that trick or treat remain an event for children like it has for the past 60 years.

All I've maintained is the backlashers to the criticism of this display are petulant and discourteous. Their trick or treat days are over. There are haunted houses and the ability to make haunted houses. This isn't a scary porch where those with small kids can simply skip. This is a graphic unavoidable scene.

Trick or Treating is for kids. A single parent can't leave the small ones at home. There is nothing wrong with criticizing people who pretend it's not. I'd feel the same way about people driving fast through the neighborhood on Halloween.

I don't know what kind of world you live in where you think giving your kid nightmares is a good way to teach them to be non selfish. Everything doesn't have to be a lesson. You are not the perfect parent and you are not raising the perfect kid. The very suggestion that you are doing these things speaks to a hypocritical standard.

It's two hours out of the year. Kids prefer fun over fright. Why not let them have it instead of being an cheap attention whore like the guy in the pic?

That may have been the case for the origins of Halloween...but it's not like origins of all holidays have been preserved through the ages. Society changes. We evolve and become more civilized. That's why we don't sacrifice virgins to sky gods or anything like that.

Dexter is hardly related to the evil Gaelic demons you referenced. That's stupid to think so. If these people were embracing the archaic definition of the holiday, they'd be performing their rituals in a realistic setting like a forest or their own fucking backyard. Not the path of 3 year old trick or treaters. The intent of this dude was clearly not to honor ancient Druid exorcism rituals, but to put on a show for the trick or treaters. Think about it this way: just because we CAN go to church wearing a satanic tshirt doesn't mean we SHOULD. Wrong audience. Wrong time.

just because we CAN go to church wearing a satanic tshirt doesn't mean we SHOULD

Sure except this dude is at his own house. If missionaries come to my home and I have a "Hail Satan!" Tshirt on do I need to change because the "audience" at my home is wrong? If your so worried, stay home or like this guys home, which is in a neighborhood famous for scary/spooky/gory houses, go to a child friendly neighborhood. My neighborhood is nothing but cutesy Halloween decorations and "spooky" ghosts or spiders put out just for little kids, take your kids to an appropriate place, don't expect every place on earth to cater to your children.

Oh and about the satan shirt. No you don't need to censor yourself if somebody randomly knocks on your door. Their bad. But if you made an appt to meet these missionaries, it'd probably be a bad idea to answer the door wearing that shirt.

In case that went over your head: Halloween night...don't be so dense as to think there won't be any kids looking in your neighborhood for candy just because you live in the "spooky neighborhood". Kids don't just know that shit. Your neighbors don't know how fucked up you're going to be decorating your house. Have some discretion. This is society not anarchy. Live harmoniously, bitch.

It's not my responsibility to censor what other people's children see. If they don't want them seeing gory stuff, don't go to neighborhoods famous for it. The neighborhood this photo was taken in IS famous for not child friendly halloween decor.

*sigh. Don't bother with this one. You can see from my thread that he's clearly just a lunatic who gets off ranting incoherently and calling everyone names on the internet. Though I guess that describes a lot of Reddit doesn't it?

It is your job as a member of society to act in a way that doesnt contribute to the fucked up-edness that you're going to complain about when these fools grow up to be our next generation of leaders. If you're not going to foster an environment that allows growth and progress for the human race then maybe you should just off yourself. Most people prefer to live in organized society. You're proposing we live in a "every man for himself" type of situation. That's not the way it works and you're only coming off as an ass when you say it's "not your job" to not act like a dumbass.

Yeah... Sorry kids, I have to kill myself, some guy on the internet said me teaching you to respect other people and that other people might like things you don't like or find scary will... I don't know what his point was really, but I have to kill myself now because I don't want you to think the world revolves around you, sorry :(

Nope. Point remains. Halloween is NOT for children as you earlier proclaimed. I never said we had to celebrate it in the same manner as the anciet Gaels but it sure as shit wasn't intended to be a holiday for the kids. If you CHOOSE to celebrate it as a children's holiday, that's your right. But others don't have to cater to your choice.

As a kid I loved having the crap scared out of me at Halloween. People would sit on their front porch with a mask on pretending to be fake then jump out at you. LOVED IT! People would hide in piles of leaves and grab you. LOVED IT! Some people like the scary, blood and gore bits. If your kid doesn't, don't go to that house.

You're failing to grasp my point. I'm not the type to censor ANYTHING from my daughter. I sure as shit make sure to avoid sugar coating any part of the world from her. She's not going to grow up a pansie. The thing is I'm the minority there. Most parents want to create a world of innocence and joy that their child can remember for the rest of their lives. And that's their right. If those kinds of people didn't exist, we'd have a population full of jaded assholes with no sense of imagination. Moving on...

I'm saying...it's not kids encroaching on adults here. Adults have the ability to shield themselves from crap they don't like (as demonstrated by your apparent discontent for the very sight of children having fun) if an adult doesn't like being at a chuck e cheese because of a bunch of hyper annoying little brats, THEY SIMPLY LEAVE. During Halloween however, some families don't have the option to travel outside of their own neighborhood nor do they keep a map of what areas parents should cover their kids' eyes/ears because some dude decided to go all dexter in the middle of a neighborhood of people just trying to have a good time. Kids can't say "oh well let me just lecture this adult on bring more child friendly" kids are by definition less apt than adults. Obviously more discretion is warranted in one direction than the other.

I'm not saying there's not a place and a time. I don't even know the full story on this particular setup. I'm just saying, show me a society that thinks "fuck kids. They can work around me" and I'll show you a society that's going to be filled with a bunch of miscreants. Why do you think kids are such idiots today compared to 50 years ago? It's because our attitudes have been progressively moving more and more towards "fuck kids and Facebook posts about kids and kids in movies/restaurants" well I say fuck you people that think we need to keep our kids locked up in basements rather than putting a tarp and a sign saying "18 and older". You're the adults here. Fucking act like it.

You don't like censoring your daughter, yet think people need warning signs on their Halloween decorations on their own property?

Nobody says to lock children in basements, but like I said, the world isn't going to cater to your damn kids. Don't find this particular house appropriate? THEN DON'T GO THERE! You, as an adult, can see this set up and say to your child "This is a scary house, we won't go here". But you would rather nobody gets to enjoy it? Because it might upset some toddlers? Sorry dude. Part of parenting is teaching your kids that there are things out there that aren't always appropriate.

Also,

I'm not saying there's not a place and a time.

You're right, there IS a place and a time. That place - this dude's own property. That time - Halloween.

And finally,

(as demonstrated by your apparent discontent for the very sight of children having fun)

Yes...because I made mention of that nowhere in any of my posts. Clearly you as a parent have some sort of vendetta. Of which I am done arguing about. Good day sir.

The censoring sign isn't intended for MY daughter. Like I said, I'm speaking for the majority from the ranks of the . Maybe 18 only is a bit drastic. But a disclaimer isn't SO much to ask for now is it? I'm sure by the time people got close enough to identify the scene, their children had already seen enough.

You can't tell me what "part of parenting" is, foreveralone. I know how to raise a kid. If everybody was as big of a douche as you about procreating, we'd be extinct very quickly. Nobody's trying to restrict your freedom here. But fuck, a little common courtesy doesn't seem out of the question. DONT TAKE DOWN THE SCENE, just make sure kids cant accidentally see it.

Are you really that cynical to think people doing your failed job of populating the human race should revolve around your desire to have fun? Maybe people that are intent on being lonely neckbeards should be segregated to their houses rather than actual FAMILIES. And yes I do have a vendetta. Sick of people telling people how to raise their children. Give people the opportunity to censor IF THEY WANT. Don't shove it down everybody's throats.

I hate closed minded fucks that shut down arguments as soon as they start feeling its not going well for them. Not surprised, though, given your maturity level.

I hope neighborhood parents don't wig out at them and ruin their Halloween spirit, looks like they put a lot of work into this, I used to love going to the scariest houses when I was little with my dad, had to earn that candy.

He didn't say it. You invented it. You brainless fucking fool. Your fantasies about what I am like are woefully wide of the mark but I confidently predict that you're a stupid fat cunt, probably fourteen years old.

Have you ever been in a neighborhood? You can see houses and a display like this from a good ways away. If you were to try and take your toddlers past it they would still be scared, especially if there is any noise coming out of the scene.

A lot of families trick or treat together. I know. Weird right? Sometimes there's siblings. Crazy. What may be cool for a 10 yr old to see might scare the shit out of their 3 year old little sister.

You see there's a lot of context in life. And though you railed against that "protective bubble" it would appear that with your abject reasoning
that perhaps you were raised in that very same bubble and have yet to emerge from it.

We have neighbors that really go all out. The kids like it. Except for clowns. Both of mine have a deep fear of clowns and dogs. You should have seen their faces when my one neighbor dressed her dog as a clown...

I always loved the houses that did cool shit like that. One time my friends dad did Jabbas palace and they had a full size Jabba you could get inside and move around and the dad was dressed up as the dude with the weird head that greeted people.

Like everyone else has said, this is awesome. It may not fit the theme most people in that neighborhood go for, but that's what is great about life: individuality. They had fun with their halloween just like your kids enjoyed the kiddie houses. To each their own and very, very far from WTF.

It is awesome though, so I'm glad you submitted it, but really... if it doesn't make you nearly throw up or jump from your seat and actually physically say "what the FUCK?!" when you see the image, it does not belong here. :)

Love it! If that bothered you never .. ever come to my neighborhood for halloween. Many houses here go above and beyond and kids and adults alike have a great scare. It's the fun of the holiday jump in!

I apologize for posting this in WTF instead of r/pics. I did not take my kids near this house. The "shock value" was that it was on a very Disney themed street of houses (like Candy Cane Lane for Halloween) and most of the parents were steering their kids away from it. I don't care about what other parents allow their kids to do. The older kids were the only ones running up to this house. These houses get about 400 kids an hour in this neighborhood.

Remember that this subreddit is for stuff that's out of the ordinary and makes you say "What the fuck!", not necessarily for blood and gore. If you want that, go to r/gore.

As a father of young kids, I find that disgusting and offensive to walk past that in someone's yard. There's a reason you don't take your 5 year old to the theater to see "Saw IV".

Imagine for a moment if you were sitting in a random waiting room (doctor's office, DMV, etc) on Halloween with your children and some guy sitting next to you started drawing pictures of bloody, degrading, sick torture scenes and showing them around with a smile. Oh, that's just harmless fun kids! It's just a picture of depraved murder scenes... c'mon, lighten up, it's Halloween!

What if he started drawing pictures of pornography on Valentines Day and showing those to your kids? C'mon, lighten up, it's a national holiday... the Day of Romantic and Sexual Love!

I wonder how the neighborhood community would feel if he put a bed in his front yard and he and his wife engaged in simulated sex poses underneath a sheet with a light behind them to outline their sexy silhouettes? No skin, just a suggestion of intercourse. That's now a crime they'd say, the police would be called, but they think it's ok to present a horrific murder scene that reverberates in a child's mind, flowing over their innocence like a dead childs' crimson red blood sliding thickly down a drainpipe, as the killer languidly dips his fingers in it and raises them to his lips, testing its delicate flavor, sniffing its heady bouquet, then greedily sucking and licking every drop from his hand before carving the little girl's eyes and tongue out to take as wet trophies to masturbate over later.

How's that unexpected imagery rest on your adult mind?

Is it ok for me to just sliiiide that in there unexpectedly? If that was harsh to your mind, as numb as it is to seeing thousands of simulated murders after years of television programming and countless movies, what would it feel like to a child, excited to play dress up and get a pillowcase full of free candy to turn a corner and recoil to see what looks to be a very real torture-murder scene? How does that change them, courtesy of their friendly, enthusiastic neighbors? What are a child's thoughts about they way she was strapped in using plastic wrap? What the saws are for? Was she alive when her arm was cut off? How it felt to her to die? How could a human do that? People really do that to each other? Why?

I never said it's not for kids. However, the day is not only for young kids. With that in mind, if you don't want your precious little snowflakes to see things like this, then you need to keep them home.

I see... it's NOT ONLY for young kids. Sooo, if it's a "mixed, all-ages" sort of deal, what, in your awesome opinion, is the level of presented depravity ok for public display in this "mixed, all-ages" environment?

Do you have a personal limit on what you think is ok to show 6 year olds? I'm assuming you wouldn't show them them say, a full-release donkey show or a decapitation snuff film in your front yard, but I don't know, Jmizzle.

What's the most fucked up thing you think is ok to show your neighbors' 6-year old?

You're welcome to be ridiculous and extreme with your examples. At the end of the day I'll go through life enjoying my day to day experiences and you'll go through life a bitter cranky piece of crap, raising a couple of entitled snowflakes that will further contribute to the pussification of society.

So now I'M ridiculous and extreme. Ok, a donkey show is going a bit far to prove a point (although we don't know if the woman and the donkey are in love and simply showing coital affection), but a real decapitation snuff film image is virtually NO DIFFERENT than a murder dismemberment kill-table image to the mind of a kid.

I asked you a valid question, though, and you're ignoring it. How depraved a public yard scene is acceptable to you?

And btw, just because I choose to ask this seemingly patriot-inflaming question of how much human miser and gore to show children, I'm not a "bitter cranky piece of crap, raising a couple of entitled snowflakes that will further contribute to the pussification of society". My kids are well-rounded, tough and smarter than most adults - they're both in the top 3% of the state in their AIMS scores.

As for our "pussification of society", are you saying that if Amurika keeps 6-year old kids from watching Rob Zombie slasher films, then we're almost dead as a society? Is that your position?

Talk about extreme wacko viewpoints. I bet you wish Romney had chosen Ted Nugent as his Vice pick, huh?

Jesus christ you and your delicate sensibilities. Death is a part of life for most of the world, it was for the first world up until only recently when modern advances in medical science, hospitals and hospice care and so on turned it into a huge industry and we've now become accostumed to having death neatly partitioned off from the rest of our lives.

But turn back the clock only a century and it was common for young kids to have a family member pass away in the household, sometimes horribly. Not to mention rear and slaughter livestock, sometimes learning to do it themselves, at tender young ages. And it was thus for thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of years.

But you know some cultures still celebrate and poke fun at death as a way of dealing with the fear we all have of our mortality. And guess what? Kids can fucking handle it for the most part, that is unless they have overly neurotic parents that teach their children to catastrophize the shit out of everything.

So yeah if this is how you feel, stay inside on Halloween, because for a lot of us, Halloween is still about wanting to scare the shit out of each other.

I have young kids also, and I understand that it's not everyone else's responsibility to conform to what I think is right or wrong for my kids. It's not their fault that I chose to have kids. It's MY job to decide what I want them to see or not see. People like you make me sick.

So I make you sick because I think 6-year-olds who look forward to going trick-or-treating, should just suck it up as they walk past a Dexter kill table with a bloody, dismembered woman on it... a scene that's more appropriate for an age-restricted haunted house than an all-ages neighborhood show?

No problem. Let me just tell the kids...

"Hey kids! 310jewel sez we either stay home or when we go trick or treating in our neighborhood I need to make you both wear remote-control blinders so I can decide what I want you to see as we go from house to house! Something about peoples' Constitutional Right to display Dexter murder-dismemberment scenes in their front yards!

Guess what, my mother was extremely protective when I was younger, and like you, did not want me to see things like this.

You know what she did? SHE MADE ME STAY HOME. AND I LIVED. If you're that bloody protective of your little angels, then keep them home. Halloween is supposed to be scary, and people should not have to censor due to over protective parents. Around Christmas, do you make sure to not put decorations up in case it offends people who don't celebrate it? I doubt it. This is barely different. You either need to realize that your children will be exposed to this if they go out on Halloween, or keep them home. Your parenting views do not necessarily reflect everyone else's. Other people are not responsible for taking every parent's view into account. The world will not change for you, you have to change yourself to suit the world.

I'm not "that protective" of my "little angels", "precious snowflakes", "ugly kids" and all the other derogatory smears my children have been labeled.

Once again, a bunch of high-horse blather about trampling on the rights of the people that choose to make open view yard displays of nasty degradation and sick violence. Of course halloween is supposed to be scary at times (ghosts, goblins, mummies, etc.) and of course you prepare your kids for that and spend time talking to them about it. I've heard accusations of me not being interested in my kids on one end and being an overprotective helicopter parent on the other. Both are absolutely wrong mischaracterizations and everyone but one guy (slappyjones) totally missed the point.

"Your parenting views do not necessarily reflect everyone else's" doesn't mean there aren't some basic standards that 95% of parents would agree on, such as "Would you personally let a 6-year-old watch Dexter?", a question which almost everyone avoided like the plague because IT'S A REASONABLE QUESTION, and doesn't let them get on a soapbox rant about how I'm a shitty parent.

And all this shit about "freedom of speech" isn't relevant either. The Secret Service visits you if you hang an effigy of Obama in your front yard on Halloween, and you can't put silhouettes of couples making love in your lit windows during Valentines Day, that brings in the cops too. There's lots of things that inappropriate to display in full view in your front yard (I've even seen political signs for Romney in some front yards and that's just sick), but slappyjones understood what I was saying when he said if it was a yard you had to enter to see, fine... but in open view of little ones it just seems harsh, in the SAME EXACT WAY that haunted houses don't let anyone under 17 enter.

Why would that "no one admitted under 17" be a rule? Because it makes total fucking sense.

Why not just keep YOUR spawn at home? The rest of us shouldn't have to worry about what YOU perceive to be right and wrong for YOUR kids. I'm a mother of 5 and I don't expect the world to conform around what I want think that they should be sheltered from. That's YOUR job, buddy. You probably shouldn't have had kids if you actually thought that it's everyone else's responsibility to shelter YOUR kids from the real world.

I am continually amazed at how a seemingly no-brainer position such as "toddlers probably shouldn't be checking out Dexter murder-dismemberment kill table scenes" can turn into a round robin insult-fest indictment of my parenting skills, which no one here has an actual clue about.

Let me try your game of radical assumptions, Mom-of-5...

"So, I can plainly see that you let your little psychopathic monsters you obviously care nothing about watch whatever they want to at any age. If they want to check out "Faces of Death 5" or "Saw IV" or "Ron Jeremy Porn Classics" then that's awesome! Good for them. Can't shelter them from whatever the world wants to show them, I mean, who the hell are you? Their mother or something? Guess what, kids? Mom is taking you downtown and we're going to tour meth labs today so you can be prepared for the real world. After that, if you're good, you can wrestle a homeless guy for a quarter and the winner gets to watch back alley hookers doin' their thing in their natural environment! It's educational! I'm so cool they should make me Mother of the Year!"

How's that, "buddy"? Did I capture the essence of what it must be like around the 310jewel household based on your comments? I gotta admit, it's fun to play "let's pretend I know what the fuck I'm talking about".

public indecency laws only apply to graphic sexual scenes, and only when in full public view. neither was the case in here, as people entered their property willingly on halloween. you're on the wrong side of this one, and to paraphrase the words of louis c.k., violence won't be shielded from the world because you don't want talk to your ugly kids for 5 minutes.

He's not talking about laws, he's talking about common sense. The way the OP put it in the title assumes this was in full view of toddlers walking by. To me, that's not so good. If however, IF this was enclosed, NOT in full view of toddlers and either an adult (or a very no-shit, "don't bring young kids in - graphic scenes" sign) was by the entrance, then that's totally cool. It's a great Halloween scene, just not for young ones.

Everybody's all up in his business because they think he's some kind of pussy socialist nazi, but I think he's a good dad with a solid, reasonable point.

you're riding the edge of the law and he wasn't talking about law, he was talking about common sense around kids.

Here's an example: It's not illegal to call a 7 year old girl a bitch-whore-cunt-faced-twat for dropping her ice cream cone on your lawn, but it's not very decent. Nor is it decent to drop a nasty murder scene from Dexter in the middle of your front lawn with little kids walking around. Use some common sense and decency, dude.

LIKE I SAID... if it isn't in full straight view, and just for the teens and adults, ultimo cool, man. Great use of props and I love the dedication to halloween... but be cool with little kids. What's hard to understand about that?

not the same context - one is verbal, one is not. a legitimate comparison would be if a little child wandered into my backyard and i was doused in pig's blood doing a rain dance. you could argue that i "harmed" your child, but it was my backyard and your child entered it of his/her own accord. who's at fault then?

Nope, just a dad that would like to let his kids enjoy their childhood as long as possible. I don't have "issues", I'm not a wacko Christian (I'm an atheist), my wife and I have been in love and married 20 years and we enjoy each others company immensely every day. We love our kids very much but don't shelter them too much at all.

Is it wrong to think that it's inappropriate for parents to bring 7 year olds to slasher horror movies? Does that mean I have issues or was somehow abused as a child?

C'mon. I'm just asking for a brief bit of seriousness here for a moment.

Did you not watch horror movies at a young age. I saw The Exorcist when I was about 7, and A Clockwork Orange too. Never mind all the Friday the 13ths that followed. I'd sneak downstairs at night and watch cable TV. I love horror movies. Did you not watch a horror movie at a young age? Did it do irreparable damage to you? Doesn't change anything. Im just a normal dude with an education, family, dog, career, etc. It's just a little fantasy and the child will be able to sort that out with the smallest amount of guidance and time.

No, I didn't see the Exorcist at 7, or any slasher films as a young kid. As adults, my wife and I enjoy psychological thrillers, but slasher/gore films are just not enjoyable to us. We don't like to see people in pain, degraded and humiliated, ultimately dying at the hands of a killer.

This isn't our idea of entertainment, and yet no one we know would ever label us as prudish in any way. We're very liberal, open minded people who don't think adults should have limits on what they view, albeit gore or porn or even teletubbies. However, a line must be drawn at exposing children to this stuff.

If you're such an advocate of pro-gore-films-for-kids, why don't you go public with it? Start an online petition to strike down the film ratings and have Slasher-themed birthday parties at BounceWorld, complete with a visit from Leatherface and Cannibal Grandpa?

I care enough don't advocate anything, but I'll be damned If I'm going to limit anyone from putting on the age old front yard scarefest on Halloween. We have far too much government intrusion as it is. More laws are not what's needed.

Who said anything about "government intrusion" there, Glenn Beck? I'm advocating for common sense and human decency when it comes to a holiday where lots of young kids are out enjoying a night of knocking on doors for candy and being complimented on their creative costumes.

I never said you shouldn't be fun-scary, like ghosts and goblins and witches kinds of stuff, but murder-dismemberment scenes with buckets of splashed blood and a plastic wrapped dead woman with a killer about to chop her up with a machete? That's cool, right?

Not more laws, that makes people want to rebel against them, forgetting why they're there in the first place. No, I mean more common sense is needed. The Dexter House people either forgot or didn't care about what that scene might mean in the mind of a little kid.

But fuck me, right? I'm some kind of socialist nanny-state advocate because I think it's inappropriate to show little kids bloody kill-table scenes from Dexter.

At a young age I saw plenty of violent/horror movies/video games/whatever. Yes it was scary for a couple of weeks, maybe a couple of years. But I just got on with my fucking life and stopped ruining everyone else's fun. And I'm perfectly normal.

So you're saying that even though you were personally fucked up for a couple of years from some freakish thing you were exposed to as a kid, you wouldn't want to stop someone else's fun of acting out a gruesome murder-dismemberment scene for the neighbor kids?

I wasn't 'fucked up' for a couple of years, I was naturally scared of what I'd seen, which made me avoid other horror-based content until I knew I'd be able to handle it. I was SCARED which is what halloween is SUPPOSED to be about. It's not actually supposed to be about kids going and getting candy.

Yeah, and Christmas used to mean a visit from the child-whipping Krampus. Should we bring that tradition back because it isn't "supposed to be about presents and singing carols'?

Dude, I'm not saying we should take all the scary out of Halloween. I'm saying we SHOULD HAVE COMMON SENSE LEVELS OF APPROPRIATE IMAGERY IN VIEW OF VERY YOUNG CHILDREN. A yard display of a killing table with a dismembered woman strapped down with plastic wrap seems inappropriate for 6 year olds.

1) Who cares if it's a tv show a movie? Violent imagery is violent imagery, whether it's a tv show, movie, photograph, drawing, etc. Fine for adults, no censorship needed at all, but a child's mind is still developing. As adults in our society, it's up to all of us to understand that some things (like violent imagery) are best kept away from impressionable young minds. Is this somehow controversial now? Are we campaigning to ensure all young children have access to any sick thing the human mind can think up? Ridiculous.

2) The mind of a toddler is a sponge, assimilating and categorizing everything they see as they build a framework of the world in their mind. Let me ask you this: Think of any small children in your family, babies or toddlers. Would it be ok if you dropped them off at daycare and one of the workers kept showing them photographs of happy, naked-time, murder-dismemberment scenes like the ones of Jeannine Lynn Clark? I mean, they have no context, right? Just bloody body parts and dismembered penises in the dead guy's mouth while a smiling nude woman poses to saw his head off. If they ask for explanation, just tell them it's silly people having a fun party. No harm in that right? Is that ok for kids in YOUR family to be exposed to that imagery?

I can't wait to see the Glenn-Beck-like logical gymnastics needed to defend this position.

I'm fully rational. Does being rational mean it's perfectly ok to show 6-year-olds bloody scenes of death by dismemberment or is being rational mean that it's ok to have a discussion about what is an appropriate level of gore and psychopathic behavior to show to young children?

Please answer.

Bonus question no one has yet to answer: What is your personal level of gruesome murder scene that's ok to show to 6-year-olds?

I think its your job as a parent to decide what your kid can and cannot see, not everyone else's job. If that house is too scary, don't go to that house. Problem solved. I bet a lot of the older kids and adults loved that house. I don't think everything needs to be sanitized down to toddler level.

The simpler solution is just for the homeowner to have some common sense when creating yard displays when there's a ton of young ones around. If you want to do a gory "haunted house" type scene, great. Just put it in the backyard or behind a hedge with a sheet entrance. Don't let the little ones eyeball it.